Marrow (vegetable)

This article is about the vegetable. For other uses, see Marrow (disambiguation).
Marrow
TypeFruit
Place of originEngland
Growing marrow
Flower of marrow

A marrow is the mature fruit of certain Cucurbita pepo cultivars used as a vegetable. The immature fruit of the same or similar cultivars is called courgette (in Britain, Iran, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand) or zucchini (in North America, Japan, Australia, the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany and Austria).[1] Like courgettes, marrows are oblong, green squash, but marrows have a firm rind and a neutral flavour, making them useful as edible casings for mincemeat and other stuffings.[2] They can be stored for several weeks after harvest (like pumpkins and other winter squash), to be processed for food when required.[3] They are a vegetable used in Great Britain and areas with significant British influence, though their popularity is waning in favor of immature summer squash like courgette.[1]

Giant marrows are grown competitively in the United Kingdom, where the term "marrow" is often restricted to the striped, thick-skinned cultivar.[4][5]

In a culinary context, marrows are a vegetable; usually cooked and presented as a savory dish or accompaniment. Botanically, marrows are fruit, a type of botanical berry, being the swollen ovary of the marrow flower. Marrows, like all squash, have their ancestry in the Americas.

  1. ^ a b Dr. D.G. Hessayon (2009). The Vegetable and Herb Expert. London: Expert Books.
  2. ^ Slater, Nigel (24 September 2000). "Nigel Slater's marrow recipes". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Marrow". Archived from the original on 2010-03-15.
  4. ^ Austin, Gareth (23 July 2010). "BBC Dig In blog". Dig In Blog. BBC. Retrieved 11 April 2016. Courgettes are commonly described as marrows harvested young. However, there are some slight horticultural differences between courgettes and marrows. Courgettes [Courgette plants] tend to be bushy and [have] thin-skinned [fruit], whereas marrows [marrow plants] tend to trailing and have [fruits with] a thicker skin.
  5. ^ "The Gardener's Almanac, entry at "Marrow"". Retrieved 11 April 2016. The general difference between Marrows and Courgettes/Zuchini is; Marrow plants tend to trail out and the fruit skin is quite thick, whereas Courgettes grow as a bush and the skins are quite thin.